The Johnnie hockey team plays host to Augsburg at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. The two teams wrap up the series at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, at the Ed Saugestad Rink in Minneapolis. 

LIVE COVERAGE
-Thursday, Jan. 25: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video
-Friday, Jan. 26: Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (7-8-4, 4-5-1 MIAC) earned four of the six possible points last weekend against Hamline.

t-at Saint John's 2, Hamline 2 (OT) – Jan. 18
The Pipers picked up the extra point in the MIAC standings with a 1-0 win in the shootout on a second-round goal from Brandon McNamara.

Sophomore forward Justin Thompson (Woodbury, Minn.) gave SJU a fast 1-0 lead with his first goal as a Johnnie 26 seconds into the game. Junior defenseman Cooper Anderson (White Bear Lake, Minn.) ripped a shot from the left point on net and Thompson swept the rebound to the back of the net. The goal was SJU's fastest to start a game since senior co-captain Max Borst (Edina, Minn.) lit the lamp 16 seconds into the eventual 4-4 tie against the Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) on Nov. 7, 2021, in St. Cloud.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Pipers tallied the equalizer 1:46 later. Derek Becklin sent a shot wide to the left of sophomore goaltender Jon Howe (Chanhassen, Minn.), but the puck caromed off the end boards and Joe Collins stuffed it across the crease before Howe could secure it.

Junior forward Spencer Rudrud (Eden Prairie, Minn.) gave the lead back to SJU with his fourth goal of the season, and 10th of his career, with 5:45 left in the second period but HU answered again on a power-play goal from McNamara two seconds into the man advantage with 2:48 remaining in the frame. The power-play goal snapped SJU's penalty kill at 19 in a row.

The Johnnies amassed a 16-5 shot advantage in the third period but could not score the go-ahead goal and finished with a 37-26 margin for the game.

Saint John's 4, at Hamline 1 – Jan. 19
Three of the Johnnies' four goals came from freshmen. Following a scoreless first period, freshman forward Jackson Bisson (Edina, Minn.) gave SJU the lead with a backhanded shot in front - his third goal of the season - 2:53 into the second frame.

Freshman forward Jack Wandmacher (St. Louis Park, Minn.) made it a two-goal game with his seventh goal of the season with 7:35 left in the second. Rudrud chased down a long saucer pass on the left boards and backhanded a pass to Wandmacher, who trailed the play in front of the net.

Thompson padded the lead with a power-play goal, his second tally of the series, at the 10:32 mark of the third period.

Carson Simon ended the shutout for Hamline with a 5-on-3, power-play goal 2:22 later, but freshman forward Jackson Borst (Edina, Minn.) ended the game's scoring with an unassisted, empty-net goal - his third tally of the season - with 48 seconds remaining.

Junior goaltender Bailey Huber (Mahtomedi, Minn.) made 26 saves to improve his record to 3-5-2 this season.

STAT COMPARISONS: Augsburg currently boasts the MIAC's top power play and is third, in both scoring offense and defense, in conference play. SJU's penalty kill is third in the league (87.8 percent) but is No. 14 in Division III overall (88.0 percent).

Scoring Offense
3. AUG, 3.13 gpg. (2.76 overall)
6. SJU, 2.80 gpg. (2.53 overall)

Scoring Defense
3. AUG, 2.25 gpg. (2.88 overall)
4. SJU, 2.60 gpg. (2.37 overall)

Power Play
1. AUG, 25.0 percent/7-for-28 (17.9 percent/10-for-56)
7. SJU, 11.4 percent/4-for-35 (8.7 percent/6-for-69)

Penalty Kill
3. SJU, 87.8 percent/36-for-41 (88.0 percent/66-for-75 *No. 14 in Division III)
6. AUG, 80.6 percent/25-for-31 (80.3 percent/49-for-61)

A LOOK AT THE AUGGIES: Augsburg (9-7-1, 6-2-0 MIAC) snapped a two-game skid with a weekend sweep of Gustavus Adolphus thanks to a pair of 3-2 wins. Last Friday (Jan. 19), the Auggies responded from a 1-0 deficit by scoring three-straight goals in the home victory. The order continued the following night in St. Peter as the visitors again scored three-consecutive goals – two in the second period and one in the third – for the sweep. Gustavus outshot Augsburg 74-55 on the weekend, but junior goaltender Samuel Vyletelka made a combined 70 saves to earn the MIAC Men's Hockey Defensive Athlete of the Week award. He is 9-7-1 with a .918 save percentage and 2.77 GAA in 17 games (16 starts) this season. His 30.24 saves per-game average leads the MIAC, while his 514 saves are fourth-most among NCAA Division III goalies. Senior forward Erik Palmqvist leads the team in assists (12) and points (18), and is tied with sophomore forward Cade Stibbe for the team-lead with six goals.

LAST SEASON: The two teams split a pair of one-goal games during the 2022-23 regular season and Augsburg edged the Johnnies in the MIAC semifinals, 3-1.

Saint John's 5, Augsburg 4 (OT) – Jan. 27, 2023 (Hockey Day MN)
Junior forward Jackson Sabo (Rosemount, Minn.) scored the three-on-three, game-winning goal 2:16 into overtime to lift SJU to a dramatic 5-4, come-from-behind victory over Augsburg under the lights at Polar Lakes Park in White Bear Township as part of Hockey Day in Minnesota weekend. 

Forward Nick Michel '23 scored with the goaltender pulled with 1:03 left in regulation to tie the game at 4-4 for the Johnnies, who saw two goals waived off - one in the second period and another in the third.

Most of the scoring came from two players - captain Auggie Moore '23 and Augsburg forward Gavin Holland. Moore scored twice in the first period - his first goal putting his team up 1-0 and his second making the score 2-1 after Holland had scored on the power play. But Holland struck again on the power play in the second and notched the hat trick with an even-strength goal early in the third period that put his team on top 3-2.

Forward Jack Johnson '23 scored to tie the game at 3, but a goal from Palmqvist at the 15:39 mark of the third period allowed his team to retake the lead. Huber finished with 29 saves, including four in overtime.

Augsburg 6, at Saint John's 5 – Jan. 28, 2023
SJU settled for a weekend split with a high-scoring 6-5 loss to Augsburg at the HBNHC in St. Cloud.

Twelve different Johnnies recorded a point and two - sophomore forward Rob Christy (St. Paul, Minn.) and junior defenseman Danny Eckerline (Wayzata, Minn.) - scored their first collegiate goals in the defeat. SJU had a goal disallowed in the third period and Augsburg hit the pipe four times in the game.

Augsburg found the scoreboard first on a goal from Holland 6:22 into the contest, but the Johnnies took a 2-1 lead on power-play goals from Max Borst and senior forward Lewis Crosby (Edina, Minn.). Borst lit the lamp with a pretty deflection in front at the 12:13 mark of the first period and Crosby made it 2-1 eight seconds into the second for his 20th point of the season.

Both teams scored three goals in the second period. The Auggies erased the deficit with two goals 1:14 apart before Eckerline's shot from the right point trickled through the goaltender's pads with 3:04 left in the frame. The visitors answered at the 19:18 mark, but Christy tied the game at 4 with 12 seconds left before intermission.

The Auggies broke the tie with two-straight goals in the third period before junior forward Matt DeRosa (Alpharetta, Ga.) ended the game's scoring with 9:39 remaining.

Howe made his seventh start of the season and stopped 33 shots. Augsburg finished with a 39-33 advantage in shots, including a 16-8 margin in the third period.

at Augsburg 3, Saint John's 1 – Feb. 25, 2023 (MIAC Semifinals)
SJU ended its 2022-23 season with a 3-1 loss at Augsburg in the MIAC semifinals. The Auggies broke a scoreless tie with a pair of goals in the second period, to go-ahead tally from Vincent Weis 4:18 into the frame and a shorthanded goal from Austin Dollimer at the 12:14 mark.

Max Borst, who was playing his first game since Feb. 2 due to injury, cut the Johnnies' deficit in half on a power-play goal with 9:42 remaining in regulation. Dollimer, however, scored his 12th goal of the season (and team-leading 30th point) 2:15 later.

SJU had the extra attacker on the ice with Huber, who made 23 saves, on the bench for the final 3:20 but could not find the back of the net. 

The Johnnies finished with a 35-26 advantage in shots, including an 18-7 barrage in the third period.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 45-41-2 against the Auggies since the 1986-87 season: 19-16-2 in St. Cloud, 19-23 in Minneapolis and 8-3 at a neutral site. SJU is 8-11-1 in the last 20 meetings and the two teams have split their MIAC series each of the past four seasons.